Some meat, fish and deli counters in Tesco’s largest stores will remain open from Thursdays to Saturdays, the paper added.

The closures and cutbacks are said to be part of chief executive Dave Lewis’ attempts to save £1.5bn in costs by 2020.

‘Dave Lewis’s attitude seems to be ‘if in doubt, just close it’ – but for elderly customers, or those on a budget, using the counters for a few slices of ham, those aren’t the days they do their shopping,’ one source said.

Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket, has 732 stores with a typical shop having five fish mongers, five butchers, as well as six deli and cheese counter workers who now all face their jobs being axed.

Hundreds of people are employed by the supermarket chain across the area.

Tesco was unable to confirm how many jobs across the area were under threat.

However, a spokesman for the company said: ‘We’re always looking at ways to run our business more simply and efficiently.

‘Whenever we make changes in our business, colleagues are always the first to know.’